AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol is a sequel of sorts (some may argue it's a spin-off) of the GameCube title that released nearly two years ago. You control a tiny robot that's put in charge of rejuvenating and maintaining a local park. To accomplish the task you'll need to care for plant growth, stop the evil smoglings, and keep the park nice and tidy. Accomplishing tasks will reward with not only a better looking park, but also with Happy Points that you can use to buy more Watts to power your robot or to spend on items and upgrades. For those familiar with the GameCube Chibi-Robo, you'll feel at home with Park Patrol as it's a scaled back (albeit nicely) experience of the same formula in a new setting.

What's Hot
Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol has what the typical Nintendo fan loves: charm. The game is charming, cute, and very approachable. The gameplay works very well on the DS and all the controls are used in an intuitive and sensible manner. As you go from task to task, you'll be able to enjoy a relaxed approach to the game, as there are no serious penalties for failure or delay. You will, however, still feel a sense of urgency at times to complete tasks before sundown so that you can move on to other things the next day.

Fans of open-ended gaming will also like how you pretty much have total control over how you want your park to evolve and develop. You'll feel like a pint-sized city planner as you lay out your park and choose what should go where. It's really fun to spend time customizing, especially if you like games like Animal Crossing or other games in that same vein.

What's Not
Chibi-Robo has lost some of his abilities when he made the jump from the GameCube to the DS. The most noticeable thing, and probably the most disappointing as well, is that you can no longer scale objects. It was always fun to get to the top of stuff and look around at your surroundings. Now you're forced to stay at ground level.

Another thing that's missing that should have been included is multiplayer support. When a game allows you to customize so much of it, it's only natural that you'd like to share what you've created or see what others have done. It's too bad that you can't even sync up with others on a local wireless connection. Maybe that's a feature we can hope for in a future title.

Final Word
Anybody who enjoyed the GameCube version of the game will find plenty to like here in Park Patrol. The game is a nice and easy experience for gamers when they're looking to burn a bit of time here and there and not have to worry about a deeply involved gaming commitment. Sure, the game is extremely casual from a difficulty and complexity standpoint, but a game like this doesn't really need to be complicated in any fashion to work well. In the end, Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol is another solid title that will appeal both to adults and younger gamers. Remember, if you're interested in playing the game, it's sold exclusively through Wal-Mart (don't ask, just believe me).